Saratoga Springs police released the camera they had confiscated on Saturday, showing officer Nathan Baker pepper spraying a man sitting in his car before grabbing the man’s arm and twisting it out the window. Officer Baker claimed he was arresting Adam Rupeka for disorderly conduct.
Rupeka had flipped him off while driving past him. And while the New York statute for disorderly conduct includes a line about making an “obscene gesture,” the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which encompasses New York, ruled that flipping cops off is protected by the Constitution